Football fans may feel a post-tournament slump with the European Football Championship party ending last Sunday. However, for petrolheads, the excitement of motorsport and the season is far from over. While footballers often dispute refereeing decisions, we’ve long accepted the balance of performance.
Without the balance of performance, there wouldn’t be many championships with such a diverse field of vehicles. The GT3-regulated race cars in IMSA alone are a feast for the eyes: Acura, Aston Martin, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, and Porsche.
The ADAC GT Masters was one of Germany’s first GT3 racing series to bring together a diverse field of car models under one roof. In the 2024 GT Masters season, the six manufacturers, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG, and Porsche, will be represented in the ADAC GT Masters with their GT3 customer sports cars. Last weekend, the championship celebrated its 250th championship race at the Nürburgring.
All Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo cars are also equipped with our KW V6 Racing dampers.
Also all Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, BMW M4 GT3, and Porsche 911 GT3 cars in ADAC’s “League of Super Sports Cars” are equipped with our KW V6 Racing dampers. After the two races at the Nürburgring, the BMW racing team FK Performance Motorsport is in second place in the team championship, and the two drivers, Leon Köhler and Maxime Oosten, are in second place in the drivers’ championship.
In their BMW M4 GT3 (#54), the pair narrowly missed out on a podium finish on the Saturday of the race. They crossed the finish line in fourth place, just 178 thousandths of a second behind. That is more annoying than a handball fault in the European Football Championship.
Sixth place went to the two Kapfinger siblings in the Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91) from Team Joos by Twin Busch. The Fach-Auto-Tech team (drivers Alexander Fach and Alexander Schwarzer) brought their Porsche 911 GT3 R (#4) home in eighth place.
The Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo with #34 finished ninth. Racing drivers Mike Ortmann and Denis Bulatov shared driving duties.
On Sunday, none of the 19 GT3 racing cars that started the race suffered retirements or time penalties, and so the BMW M4 GT3 (#54) of FK Performance Motorsport pushed its way into the pack of leading Mercedes-AMG GT3s. With their third-place finish, Leon Köhler and Maxime Oosten secured important points for the championship.
The best Porsche 911 GT3 R (#4) in the field on Sunday was the 992 from Fach Auto Tech, driven by racing drivers Alexander Fach and Alexander Schwarzer. They finished seventh.
Walkenhorst Motorsport drivers Mike Ortmann and Denis Bulatov (#34) and Nico Hantke and Chandler Hull (#35) parked their Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo in ninth and eleventh place respectively.
In between, the Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91) from Team Joos by Twin Busch with Johannes and Michael Kapfinger squeezed through. The second FK Performance BMW M4 GT3 (#10) crossed the finish line at position 16.
KW Motorsport customer Manthey PureRxcing takes the lead in the WEC LMGT3 team and driver standings
Our KW V6 Racing dampers are also successfully employed in the GT3 classes of both the IMSA and FIA WEC series. While the IMSA recently competed at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Canada, the WEC enjoys a summer break following a thrilling race in São Paulo, Brazil.
Over 73,000 motorsport enthusiasts made the pilgrimage to Interlagos, or instead to the Autódromo José Carlos Pace; after all, the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) was on the calendar: the 6 Hours of São Paulo.
After 214 laps, the Porsche 911 GT3 R (#92) crossed the finish line first in its class. Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin, and Joel Sturm shared the cockpit. The “The Heart of Racing” team also impressed with their Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (#27). In their first WEC season, they finished second!
Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli, and Alex Riberas finished one lap down on the Manthey Porsche (#92).
BMW M Team WRT crossed the finish line in fifth place. At the wheel of the #46 BMW M4 GT3 were Ahmad Al Harthy, Maxime Martin, and Valentino “Dottore” Rossi. All in all, the M3 team can be satisfied, says Valentino Rossi:
“After the last few races, in which we had a lot of bad luck, fifth place is an important and good result for us. We realized early on the weekend that we weren’t fully competitive here, but we fought and improved the car with a view to the race. Ahmad and Maxime did an excellent job, and I did well in my stints.”
The second Aston Martin (#777) finished ninth. The Japanese team “D’Station Racing” will field it in the 2024 season. The three drivers are Erwan Bastard, Clément Mateu, and Marco Sorensen.
A drive-through penalty dashed Augusto Farfus’ hopes in the second BMW M Team WRT. Ultimately, the BMW M4 GT3 (#31) crossed the finish line in tenth place in its class, three laps behind. Alongside Augusto Farfus, Darren Leung and Sean Gelael took turns behind the wheel.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R from Team Manthey EMA (#91) dropped back to 16th in the classification due to a stop-and-go penalty and two collisions. Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring, and Yasser Shahin made up a few positions over the remaining race distance to finish twelfth.
Even in practice, it was clear that the Lamborghini SC63 (#63) would have a tough time in Interlagos; after all, it was the first time the newly developed Lamborghini LMDh had raced in South America. Due to the high tire wear, all teams used different tire strategies. The Lamborghini Team Iron Lynx opted for a softer tire compound. A late tire puncture dashed all hopes of scoring points.
The next generation of our KW Solid Piston dampers, the Formula Racing Series, is used in Lamborghini’s first LMDh prototype. You can learn more about these on our KW Blog and the KW Homepage (click on the bold words to get more information).
Two podium finishes in the IMSA
A little over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) separate the Brazilian racetrack Interlagos and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Here, our motorsport customers celebrated a podium finish in the GTD Pro class and a class victory in GTD at the eleventh race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
While the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo from “The Heart of Racing” finished second in São Paulo, things went even better for its sister car in the IMSA. The Vantage with the #27 won the GTD class at the Chevrolet Grand Prix in Bowmanville. Roman de Angelis and Spencer Pompelly drove the British racing car.
Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher finished fourth in the GTD class in the Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 (#96). Porsche drivers Anders Fjordbach and Kerong Li placed the MDK Motorsports 911 GT3 R (#86) tenth in class.
The AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 (#77), nicknamed “Rexy,” secured third place in the GTD Pro class. Laurin Heinrich and Seb Priaulx were the drivers behind the wheel.
Ross Gunn and Mario Farnbacher parked their Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (#23), also running under the banner of “The Heart of Racing” racing team, in fifth place at the finish line.
The Paul Miller BMW M4 GT3 (#1) finished eighth place in class. Corvette Racing By Pratt Miller Motorsports won the GTD Pro class.
Photos Teams, Gruppe C Photography, Michele Scudiero Photography, Drew Gibson, Julien Delfosse
